buildings
Review
Challenges and Future Development Paths of Low Carbon
Building Design: A Review
Chang Xi 1 and Shi-Jie Cao 1,2, *






Citation: Xi, C.; Cao, S.-J. Challenges
and Future Development Paths of
Low Carbon Building Design:
A Review. Buildings 2022, 12, 163.
https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings
12020163
Academic Editor: David Arditi
Received: 27 December 2021
Accepted: 30 January 2022
Published: 2 February 2022
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Buildings 2022, 12, 163. https://doi.org/10.3390/buildings12020163
1 School of Architecture, Southeast University, Nanjing 210096, China; chang_xi@seu.edu.cn
2 Global Centre for Clean Air Research, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of
Engineering and Physical Sciences, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK
* Correspondence: shijie_cao@seu.edu.cn
Abstract: Excessive carbon emissions are causing the problems of global warming and the greenhouse
effect, which urgently need to be controlled worldwide. It is crucial to reduce the carbon emissions of
the construction industry as it is one of the main sources. Carbon is generated at all phases of the
building life cycle, including in material production, building design, and building operation and
maintenance. Notably, building design has various extents of influence on carbon emissions at each
phase, for which a low carbon method urgently needs to be explored. This paper aims to summarize
the current status of building design through literature review considering standard systems, carbon
emission calculations, and building design optimization. The challenges of building design are as
follows: lack of (1) a comprehensive standard system considering different factors, (2) lack of a
carbon emission calculation method for the design phase, and a (3) no real-time optimization model
aiming at carbon reduction. The path of “standard−calculation−prediction−optimization” (SCPO)
for future building design is proposed to address these challenges. It takes standard system as the
framework, the carbon calculation method as the foundation, the prediction model as the theory, and
the low carbon building as the objective. This paper can provide theoretical guidance for low carbon
building design.
Keywords: low carbon building; building design; standard system; carbon emission calculation;
building factor optimization
1. Introduction
Increased fossil fuel combustion and the exploitation of finite resources are causing
excessive carbon emissions, further resulting in global warming and the greenhouse ef-
fect [1,2]. If the atmospheric CO2 doubles, the global average temperature will rise by about
3 ◦ C [2]. It is predicted that the increase in global temperature could reach at least 1.5 ◦ C
or more by 2030–2052 due to carbon emissions [3]. Countries around the world urgently
need to control carbon emissions. In 2015, the Paris Agreement was negotiated. Almost all
countries and regions have pronounced low carbon emission policies [4,5]. The European
Union has set a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 [4]. China is the largest carbon
emitter in the world, with carbon emissions already reaching 10.251 billion tons in 2020 [6].
In response, the president of China first committed at the 75th UN General Assembly to
achieve the goal of carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 [7]. Reducing
carbon emissions has become an urgent issue worldwide.
The report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) stated that
industry, buildings, and transportation are the main sources of carbon emissions. Reducing
building carbon emissions, which account for almost 40% of the total carbon emissions
globally, is the key to achieving carbon peaking and neutrality [8]. The global building
stock is on the rise annually. Taking Norway as an example, the building stock is predicted
to increase to 448 million m2 in 2050, which is about 20 % compared to 2020 [9]. China
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/buildings
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Buildings 2022, 12, 163 2 of 12

stock is on the rise annually. Taking Norway as an example, the building stock is predicted
to increase to 448 million m2 in 2050, which is about 20 % compared to 2020. [9]. China has
about 2 billion m2 of new construction annually, which accounts for almost 50% of the
has about 2 billion m2 of new construction annually, which accounts for almost 50% of the
world’s total [10]. It is expected that 800 million m22 of new urban residential buildings will
world’s total [10]. It is expected that 800 million m of new urban residential buildings will
be built in per year by 2030 [11]. Thus, it is undoubtedly a major challenge to reduce car-
be built in per year by 2030 [11]. Thus, it is undoubtedly a major challenge to reduce carbon
bon emissions in the building sector in order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.
emissions in the building sector in order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality.
Strategieshave
Strategies havebeen
beendeveloped
developedinin several
several countries
countries andand regions
regions in order
in order to achieve
to achieve the
the goal of zero carbon, largely by reducing the carbon emissions
goal of zero carbon, largely by reducing the carbon emissions from buildings [12]. The from buildings [12].main
The
main principles
principles are as follows:
are as follows: (1) making
(1) making full usefull use of renewable
of renewable energyenergy
to reduceto reduce the em-
the embedded
beddedemissions
carbon carbon emissions
from the from the production
production of buildingof materials,
building materials,
to building toconstruction,
building construc-to the
tion, to the completion phase; (2) using renewable energy and
completion phase; (2) using renewable energy and advanced energy-saving technologies advanced energy-saving to
technologies
reduce to reduce
the carbon the carbon
emissions in theemissions
operationinphase;
the operation
and (3) thephase; and (3) carbon
remaining the remaining
can be
carbon can be
neutralized by neutralized
means of carbon by means
sinksof orcarbon sinks orcarbon,
compensated compensated
in ordercarbon,
to finallyin order
achieve to
finally achieve the goal of low carbon building [12]. To this end, the
the goal of low carbon building [12]. To this end, the carbon emission process of the life carbon emission pro-
cess of
cycle of the life cycleshould
the building of the building should be fullyAs
be fully comprehended. comprehended.
can been seen in AsFigure
can been seenare
1, there in
Figure 1, there are seven phases in the whole life cycle, including building
seven phases in the whole life cycle, including building material production, building trans- material pro-
duction, building
portation, buildingtransportation,
design, buildingbuilding design,
construction, building
building construction,
operation building opera-
and maintenance [13],
tion and maintenance [13], building renewal, and building demolition.
building renewal, and building demolition. Embedded carbon is generated in the phases Embedded carbon
of
is generated
building in the
material phases of building
production, material
transportation, production,and
construction, transportation,
demolition [14], construction,
while the
and demolition
carbon generated[14], while
in the phasestheof
carbon
operationgenerated in the phases
and maintenance of operation
is operational and mainte-
carbon [15,16].
nance
The is operational
carbon emissionscarbon [15,16]. The
from building carbon emissions
construction from building
and operation can be upconstruction
to 40% of and the
operation
global totalcan be up to[17].
emissions 40%Of of the global
phasestotal emissions
of the building[17]. Of thetaking
life cycle, phasesoffice
of thebuildings
building
lifeancycle,
as taking
example, office buildings
building operationas anmaintenance
and example, building operation
generates about 66%and maintenance
of the operational gen-
erates about
carbon, 66% of27%
with about the ofoperational
embeddedcarbon,carbonwith about in
generated 27%theofmaterial
embedded carbon gener-
production, trans-
ated in theand
portation, material production,
construction, and transportation, and construction,
at least 7% of carbon and at least
emissions generated in 7%
theof car-
other
bon emissions
phases [18]. Thisgenerated
phenomenon in the
meansotherthatphases [18]. of
each phase This
the phenomenon
building life cyclemeans has that each
a diverse
impact
phase of onthecarbon emissions.
building life cycle has a diverse impact on carbon emissions.

Figure 1.
Figure 1. Seven
Seven phases
phases of
of the
the building
building life
life cycle.
cycle.

It
It is
is important
important toto note
note that
that building
building design
design affects
affects carbon
carbon emissions
emissions inin all
all phases
phases of
of
the
the building
building lifelife cycle
cycle to
to variable
variable extents
extents [19].
[19]. Figure
Figure 11 clearly
clearly depicts
depicts that
that the
the building
building
design
design phase
phase can
can determine
determine thethe form
form ofof the
the building
building envelope,
envelope, material
material selection,
selection, etc.,
etc.,
which directly affects the carbon emits in the phases of building material
which directly affects the carbon emits in the phases of building material production production
and
and building
building transportation,
transportation, etc. The
etc. [20]. [20].design
The design of air conditioning
of air conditioning and ventilation
and ventilation systems
systems in the building
in the building operationoperation and maintenance,
and maintenance, and building
and building renewal renewal
phasesphases are on
are based based
the
on the finalized building morphology [21]. More seriously, if the building performance
is optimized by active technology or retrofitting, such as adding insulation facilities or
retrofitting the original operation system [22,23], the embedded carbon emission of the
Buildings 2022, 12, 163 3 of 12

building could be increased [24]. Thus, low carbon building design is crucial to reduce
carbon emissions throughout the building life cycle.
At present, scholars from all over the world have fully recognized and conducted
in-depth research about the impact of building design on carbon emissions [25], such as
building design models and tools [26], optimization of the building design factors [27],
and passive and active coupling design [28]. There are many challenges for low carbon
building design in the actual application because of the complex building environment.
This paper aims to summarize the current status of low carbon building design through
literature analysis, and to discuss the challenges and possible developments for the future.
Section 2 is the methodology of this work. Section 3 is the current status and challenges
regarding research on low carbon building design. Section 4 is possible future work of
low carbon building design. Section 5 is the main conclusion. This paper aims to have a
guiding effect on low carbon building design.

2. Methodology
Literature research is the main method used in this work. Firstly, the keywords
of “low carbon, carbon emission, building design, embodied carbon, operation carbon,
and energy saving” were searched in academic databases (i.e., ScienceDirect and Web of
Science). Secondly, more relevant literature was uncovered by further searching the cited
reference of the review articles. Finally, screening the literature was done according to the
following three main criteria: (a) The selected publications should cover one or more of the
issues related to building design, such as building form, building performance, building
energy use, and building optimization. (b) The selected journals focus on the scopes of
buildings, cities, building design, built environment, built engineering, etc. (c) The selected
publications should be limited to the last ten years, with a focus on the relevant results
from the last three to five years.
After literature screening, the traditional building design was introduced, as follows:
the current status and future challenges of the possible low carbon building design path
were analyzed, mainly including low carbon standards, carbon emission calculation meth-
ods, and building optimization design. The proposed low carbon building design path was
summarized as well as the implementation methods of traditional building design.

3. The Status and Challenges of Low Carbon Building Design

3.1. The Traditional Building Design Process
Figure 2 illustrates the traditional process of building design, namely conceptual
design, preliminary design, development design, and detailed design [29]. Conceptual
design is a design concept jointly negotiated by the architect and the project client [21],
which can confirm the building type, volume, functions, and main structural systems. The
preliminary design details the content of the conceptual design, such as the layout of the
building group, building envelope, structural system, acoustical environment, luminous
environment, and air conditioning system. Development design, as a phase to supplement
the preliminary design content, mainly covers detailed drawings of the building envelope,
detailed layouts of the building, selection of building materials, detailed layouts of the
air conditioning and ventilation system [30], detailed electrical systems, and fire safety.
Detailed design is the last phase, in which the development phase design is optimized in
detail using simulation software [29].
Buildings2022,
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12

Figure
Figure2.2.The
Theprocess
processof
ofbuilding
buildingdesign
designand
andmethods
methods of
of carbon
carbon reduction.
reduction.

ItItis
is necessary
necessary to carry
carry out
outaalow
lowcarbon
carbondesign
designsystem
systeminin
thethe mentioned
mentioned design
design pro-
process,
cess,
aimedaimed at building
at low low building carbon
carbon emissions.
emissions.
(1)
(1) Low
Lowcarbon
carbondesign
designstandards
standardsare areneeded
neededto to provide
provide constraints
constraints inin the
the conceptual
conceptual
design phase, such as renewable energy utilization [31–33] and local
design phase, such as renewable energy utilization [31–33] and local meteorological meteorological
conditions
conditions[34,35].
[34,35].The
Thelocal
localclimate
climatetype,
type,dominant
dominantwind winddirection
directionand
andspeed,
speed,solar
solar
radiation,
radiation, and other meteorological conditions should be taken into account, asas
and other meteorological conditions should be taken into account, well
well as
aslocal
local renewable
renewable energy
energy sources
sources such
such as as wind,
wind, solar,
solar, geothermal,
geothermal, andand biomass
biomass en-
energy.
(2) ergy.
In the preliminary and development design phases, carbon emission calculation
(2) Inmethods
the preliminary
are neededand development
to compare design
the carbon phases,ofcarbon
emissions emission
different calculation
design alternatives.
methods
Buildingare needed
carbon to compare
emissions the carbon
are needed emissionsin
to calculate, ofreal-time,
different design alternatives.
when the design of
Building carbon emissions are needed to calculate, in real-time, when
building morphology (i.e., the block-scale building height, layout, density, green spacethe design of
building morphology (i.e., the block-scale building height, layout,
ratio, building area, and volume and orientation of an individual building [36–39]) density, green
space ratio, building
and building area,
envelope androof,
(i.e., volume and orientation
external wall, internalof an individual
wall, building ratio,
window-to-wall [36–
39])
andand building
shading envelope
[40–42]) should(i.e., roof, external wall, internal wall, window-to-wall
be changed.
(3) ratio, and shading
It is necessary [40–42])
for active should be
regulation ofchanged.
low carbon optimization design in the detailed
(3) Itdesign phase,for
is necessary such as for
active air conditioning
regulation systems
of low carbon [43], lighting
optimization systems
design [44],
in the etc.
detailed
design phase, such as for air conditioning systems [43], lighting systems
Thus, the standard system, carbon emission calculation, and optimal design should be [44], etc.
Thus, the
integrated intostandard system,
the building carbon
design emission
process, calculation,
considering and
the five optimal
carbon designmethods
reduction should
be integrated
of building into the building
morphology design, design
buildingprocess,
envelope considering the five energy
design, renewable carbon utilization,
reduction
methods of building
combination morphology
with local design,
meteorological building
conditions, envelope
and design, renewable
active management design energy
(shown
utilization,
in Figure 2)combination withand
[26]. The status local meteorological
challenges conditions,
of the standard and active
system, carbon management de-
calculation, and
sign (shown
optimal in Figure
design 2) [26].as
are discussed The status and challenges of the standard system, carbon
follows.
calculation, and optimal design are discussed as follows.
3.2. The Status of Low Carbon Building Design
3.2. The
AsStatus
shownofin
Low Carbon
Figure Building
3, this paperDesign
describes the status of low carbon building design
fromAsthree aspects, namely (1) the standard
shown in Figure 3, this paper describessystem
the of low of
status carbon building
low carbon design,design
building (2) the
calculation methods of carbon emissions, and (3) the optimal building design.
from three aspects, namely (1) the standard system of low carbon building design, (2) the
calculation methods of carbon emissions, and (3) the optimal building design.
Buildings 2022,
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12, 163
x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 12

Figure 3.
Figure 3. The
The statues
statues and
and challenges
challenges of
of low
low carbon
carbon building
building design.
design.

standard system
(1) The standard system of low carbon building design: Developed countries countries in North
Europe and North America established related policies at an early stage, and have built built
numerous low-carbon buildings. Europe formulated
Europe formulated the the European Energy Technology
Strategic Plan in 2008 2008 [45].
[45]. The United States developed the Leadership in Energy and and
Environmental Design
Environmental Design(LEED)
(LEED)[46].
[46]. These
These countries
countries have
have been
been leading
leading inin the field of green
and low carbon buildings, and are further exploring new technologies and new routes for
“zero
“zeroenergy
energyand andzero
zerocarbon”
carbon”buildings.
buildings.Green
Green buildings
buildingswithwitha low energy
a low energyconsumption
consump-
and
tion high comfort
and high are emerging
comfort are emerginggradually.
gradually.
China’s Ministry
Ministry of of Housing
Housing and andUrban −Rural Development
Urban−Rural Development released the national national
standard “General Specification for Building Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
Utilization”
Utilization”to tomake
makethe thecalculation
calculationofofbuilding
buildingcarbon
carbon emissions
emissions aiming
aiming at at
“carbon
“carbon peaking
peak-
and carbon
ing and neutral”
carbon a mandatory
neutral” a mandatorydemand [47]. “The
demand announcement
[47]. “The announcement on theon issuance of the
the issuance
implementation
of the implementationplan forplan
the in-depth development
for the in-depth of green low-carbon
development leading action
of green low-carbon for
leading
public institutions to promote carbon peaking” states that the promotion
action for public institutions to promote carbon peaking” states that the promotion of ul- of ultra-low energy
buildings and low-carbon
tra-low energy buildings and buildings shouldbuildings
low-carbon be accelerated
should andbegreen buildings
accelerated andshould
green
be developed. Solar photovoltaic photothermic systems should
buildings should be developed. Solar photovoltaic photothermic systems should be vigorously promoted.
be vig-
Photoelectric
orously promoted. high-efficiency
Photoelectricphotovoltaic power photovoltaic
high-efficiency generation facilities should be installed,
power generation facilities
making
should be fullinstalled,
use of themaking
suitable siteuse
full space, such
of the as on building
suitable site space, roofs
suchand
as facades
on building[48]. roofs
Several [48].
and facades provinces and cities in China have put forward relevant development plans
for low-carbon buildingand
Several provinces design
citiessuccessively.
in China have In put
Shanghai,
forward it is suggested
relevant that assembled
development plans
buildings
for low-carbon building design successively. In Shanghai, it is suggested that for
should be developed as ultra-low energy buildings, which advocate the use
assembled
of exteriorshould
buildings wall insulation,
be developedhigh-performance
as ultra-low energyexterior windows,which
buildings, and related
advocate technological
for the use
innovation [49]. Sichuan Province encourages the establishment of a building
of exterior wall insulation, high-performance exterior windows, and related technological energy-saving
system
innovationin accordance
[49]. Sichuan with the local
Province climate, the
encourages humanities, and natural
establishment resources
of a building [50,51],
energy-sav-
while Yunnan Province mentions similar suggestion [52]. The Chongqing government has
ing system in accordance with the local climate, humanities, and natural resources [50,51],
a standard and management system for ultra-low energy consumption buildings, further
while Yunnan Province mentions similar suggestion [52]. The Chongqing government has
providing technical support for projects in the design and construction phases [53].
a standard and management system for ultra-low energy consumption buildings, further
Currently, there are timely development requirements for low carbon building design
providing technical support for projects in the design and construction phases [53].
in all regions. The building design is a complex issue influenced by climate, humanities,
Currently, there are timely development requirements for low carbon building de-
economy, culture, and other factors [54,55]. The standard system of low-carbon building
sign in all regions. The building design is a complex issue influenced by climate, human-
design should be improved.
ities, economy, culture, and other factors [54,55]. The standard system of low-carbon
(2) The calculation methods of carbon emissions: Embedded carbon emissions and
building design should be improved.
operational carbon emissions are generated in the life cycle of a building. In the “Standard
(2) The calculation methods of carbon emissions: Embedded carbon emissions and
for building carbon emission calculation” (GB/T 51366-2019) [56], the operational carbon
operational carbon emissions are generated in the life cycle of a building. In the “Standard
emission calculation is determined based on the amount of different types of energy
for building carbon
consumption and the emission calculation”
carbon emission (GB/T
factors. 51366-2019)
Simulation [56], thesuch
software, operational
as Energy carbon
Plus,
eQuest, and TRNSYS [26,40], are used as tools to calculate energy consumption. Forcon-
emission calculation is determined based on the amount of different types of energy the
sumption and
embedded carbontheemission,
carbon emission factors. Simulation
life cycle assessment (LCA) is ansoftware, such asand
internationally Energy Plus,
nationally
eQuest, and TRNSYS [26,40], are used as tools to calculate energy consumption. For the
Buildings 2022, 12, 163 6 of 12

acknowledged method [24,57–59]. Based on LCA, the input−output analysis (IO-LCA)

method is widely used around the world [60–62]. It can calculate industry-wide carbon
emissions by using economic input and output data, without the ability to perform specific
calculations and analyses during the detailed building processes. The process analysis
method [63] can overcome the limitations of IO-LCA by means of carbon emission factors
for each phase, which can calculate the carbon emissions from the material production,
transportation, construction, operation, disassembly, and recycling of buildings [58,59].
Specifically, the detailed process inventory for each phase is necessary for the process
analysis method.
Carbon emission factors are an essential part of the calculation of embedded and
operational carbon. IPCC provides a basic database of carbon emission factors. The
database cannot be entirely suitable for all buildings, owing to the complex and diverse
building types [64]. To be specific, more building forms and composites are gradually being
proposed to meet the growing needs of high-rise buildings, resulting in carbon emission
factors needing to be updated [18]. Moreover, the sources of carbon emission factors are not
uniform, including the basic databases, literature, and standards [65,66]. This is an urgent
issue that needs to be solved for the establishment of a standardized and comprehensive
carbon emission factor database for low carbon building design.
A detailed building inventory is also crucial for the calculation, without carbon emis-
sion factors. As the building inventory information can be commonly obtained from
engineering drawings, less detailed information is available on the conceptual and prelim-
inary design phases of building design [67]. Therefore, the carbon emission calculation
method should also consider the life cycle process with less inventory information [68].
(3) The optimal building design: There are three types of the optimization of low
carbon building design. The first one is to investigate the impact of different factors in
building design on carbon emission or energy saving (univariate optimization). Com-
pared with active means, passive design can effectively reduce energy consumption and
carbon emissions. Studies have been carried out on passive design factors for energy
saving or low carbon emissions, including green roofs [69,70], window-to-wall ratios [71],
and building orientation [72], which can provide sufficient theoretical support for low
carbon and low energy consumption building design. However, strong interactions are
exited between different design factors, causing limitations in practical applications for the
univariate optimization.
The second is the multi-objective optimization of building design factors. Construction
cost and energy consumption are the commonly used objective functions [73,74]. Low
energy consumption and low carbon building design can be achieved by finding the optimal
objective [17,27,75]. However, this refers more to the carbon emissions of operational
energy consumption [28], which are not enough to indicate the actual carbon emission
reduction [76]. Life cycle carbon emissions should be considered in low carbon building
design [77]. Many scholars have conducted research on the life cycle carbon emission
calculation model of buildings, which is also the research content of the third type.
Generally, in the research of the carbon emission model of buildings, the carbon
emission database for life-cycle should first be established [78]. Secondly, the model
can be constructed by machine learning and regression fitting, etc. [79–82]. The current
database construction mainly includes research statistics and energy consumption simula-
tion [26,29,57,83]. Research statistics require continuous statistical data over several years or
months, for which it takes more time to build a database of carbon emissions. The existing
building design optimization is time-consuming and investment heavy. It is necessary to
explore a fast and convenient optimization method for low carbon building design.

3.3. The Challenges of Low Carbon Building Design

As shown in Figure 3, based on the analysis of the status of the standard system, the
calculation method, and the optimal low carbon building design, several challenges in the
development of low carbon building design are present.
Buildings 2022, 12, 163 7 of 12

The first challenge is the lack of a global perspective design standard system. China’s
building stock is relatively high, with various climate characteristics [84], population
densities, economic levels, and human characteristics [54]. There is an urgent need for
low-carbon buildings to consider multiple factors and develop novel design approaches
for different characteristics [85], which consider the spatial form of buildings and being
low carbon as the common optimization objectives.
The second challenge is the lack of carbon emission calculation methods applicable to
the design phase. The existing calculation methods of embedded and operational carbon
require a comprehensive database of carbon emission factors and detailed process invento-
ries [56]. The current database of carbon emission factors needs to be improved in order to
be applicable to more building types [18]. The information in the detailed process inventory
is assumed, which may differ from the actual construction and operation process informa-
tion, further affecting the accuracy of the calculation of building carbon emissions [68,86].
Hence, in order to reduce the difference between the design and operating phase, exploring
a calculation method applicable to the design phase remains a great challenge.
The third challenge is the lack of real-time optimization methods in the design phase
aiming at low carbon emissions. Low carbon building design should take into account
the building morphology, for example circulation space, open space and aesthetics, floor
area, floor layout, floor height, building volume, building orientation, and fenestration, as
well as windows, doors, shading and exterior walls, etc. [74]. Each factor affects the carbon
emission directly or indirectly [87]. Moreover, there is the problem of the design process
Buildings 2022, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 8 of 12
being the time-consuming and this needs to be optimized [81]. Low carbon building design
needs to use convenient and fast optimization methods, i.e., drawing−prediction−design,
which can provide accurate guidance for building design.
boundary conditions. Site area, floor/area ratio, and building height limits should be used
as Possible
4. the second boundary
Future Work conditions. The building orientation and window-to-wall ratio
should be used as the
As shown in Figure third boundary
4, the design conditions. The influence
standard system of each
of “spatial building
regulation” anddesign
“per-
factor on carbon emission should be constructed, further contributing a comprehensive
formance regulation” for low carbon green buildings that can adapt to various climatic
database of design
characteristics factors.
will be Secondly,
established a low-carbon
in future work. The design prediction
standard systemmodel will bedesign
of building con-
structed through big data analysis and machine learning methods based on
can provide the low carbon constraints for the conceptual design phase, as well as low the above
boundary
carbon conditions.
concepts Finally,
for climate andbuilding
renewabledesign drawing
energy software,
adaptation. includingthis
Specifically, Computer
includes
Aided Design (CAD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM), will be coupled
building morphology design, envelope design, low carbon material selection, balancing with the
low carbon
control design
between prediction
light and heat,model,
passiveforming a design design,
−active coupling pattern indoor
so thathumidity
buildingsindepen-
can be
optimized immediately
dent control, etc. after drawing.

Figure
Figure 4. Possible future
4. Possible future work
work for
for low
low carbon
carbon building
building design.
design.

5. Conclusions
This paper reviews the current status of the building standards system, carbon emis-
sion calculation methods, and building design optimization in the traditional building
design process. The main challenges are as follows: (1) the lack of a comprehensive stand-
Buildings 2022, 12, 163 8 of 12

Then, based on the low carbon building design standard system, the carbon emission
calculation methods applicable to the design phase will be explored in future work. Real-
time and rapid calculation of building carbon emissions, important for evaluating design
alternatives, will be used for different design alternatives during the preliminary design
and development design phases. A comprehensive database of carbon emission factors
will be built to meet the needs of different climatic conditions, building types, and building
heights, etc. In addition, the carbon emission calculation in the design phase will meet the
demand of incomplete content of inventory information in future research. Based on the
carbon emission factor and the process inventory database, a convenient and fast carbon
emission calculation method should be formed to facilitate the rapid assessment of carbon
emissions in the design phase.
In the final step, building design in the future will be optimized through the design
model. The design parameters will be accurately quantified to minimize the building carbon
emissions. Firstly, different climate zones and building types are used as the first boundary
conditions. Site area, floor/area ratio, and building height limits should be used as the
second boundary conditions. The building orientation and window-to-wall ratio should
be used as the third boundary conditions. The influence of each building design factor on
carbon emission should be constructed, further contributing a comprehensive database
of design factors. Secondly, a low-carbon design prediction model will be constructed
through big data analysis and machine learning methods based on the above boundary
conditions. Finally, building design drawing software, including Computer Aided Design
(CAD) and Building Information Modeling (BIM), will be coupled with the low carbon
design prediction model, forming a design pattern so that buildings can be optimized
immediately after drawing.

5. Conclusions
This paper reviews the current status of the building standards system, carbon emis-
sion calculation methods, and building design optimization in the traditional building
design process. The main challenges are as follows: (1) the lack of a comprehensive standard
system for different climate zones, space, and performance requirements in the building
design phase; (2) the existing carbon emission calculation methods lack a comprehensive
database of carbon emission factors, which are not applicable to the design phase without
a detailed process inventory; and (3) not being able to optimize building design factors
based on real-time carbon emissions during the drawing process in the design phase.
Possible future work in building design should examine dealing with the above-
mentioned challenges. A standard design system integrating spatial building information
and low carbon performance needs to be formed, which is a constraint framework for the
traditional conceptual design phase. A convenient carbon calculation method based on a
comprehensive carbon emission factor database and a process inventory factor database
should be explored, which is significant for the preliminary and development design
phase. The prediction model will be proposed for detailed design using machine learning
methods. Specifically, the spatial-low carbon standard system, carbon calculation method,
prediction model of building design, and the optimal design of low carbon will be the
framework, the foundation, the theory, and the objective, respectively. The system of
“standard−calculation−prediction−optimization (SCPO)” will provide precise guidance
for future building design.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, investigation, and writing—original draft preparation,

C.X.; resources, funding acquisition, and writing—review and editing, S.-J.C. All authors have read
and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This work was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant no.
52178069).
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Buildings 2022, 12, 163 9 of 12

Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.

Data Availability Statement: Not applicable.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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